The Daily O’Collegian

By Jeff Latzke

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The first steps in a vast overhaul of the Ford Center will be aimed at making Oklahoma City’s new NBA team look better on the court and on television.

It has nothing to do with the players on the court and everything to do with technology.

The city, which owns the 19,675-seat arena, is taking bids to upgrade the lighting at the arena and improve the capabilities for broadcasting games in high definition. The project, the first in an approximately $100 million renovation, is expected to cost about $450,000 and bids are expected in by Aug. 5.

Fans got a glimpse at what the arena could eventually look like Saturday at an open house, where they could also skate on the same ice as the city’s minor-league hockey team, shoot hoops, kick an arena league field goal or take down a tackling dummy at the goal line.

But many of the changes that will make the most difference for fans won’t actually take place until next summer — after the NBA season, the Big 12 basketball tournaments and an NCAA women’s basketball tournament regional.

The improvements are scheduled to be finished by the 2010-11 season, when the NBA was expected to come to town before SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett reached a settlement this month to relocate the team two years early. The team will be renamed.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and we’ll get as much done as fast as possible,” said Tim Linville, the Ford Center’s director of marketing and sales. “It all comes down to how the schedule falls, when bids get done and the city gets them processed.”

There’s only so much the Ford Center can get done before the NBA season starts in about 3½ months, and even beyond. The two new club-level restaurants can’t be put in where people have already paid to watch other sporting events and concerts.

“We can’t make a lot of changes. Those seats have already been sold,” Linville said.

Eventually, plans include a new Family Fun Zone — with separate sections for toddlers, teenagers and “tweens” — as well as new food options, expanded concourses and rooftop gardens.

Six new restaurants are in the works, including the possibility for a high-end steakhouse on the club level and a ground-level nightclub that could stay open after games are over.

The club suites will get spruced up, and so-called “bunker suites” that are located under the concourse and have no view of the basketball floor will be built. Fans will be able to buy seats and then walk to the bunker suites, Linville said.

Just below the club level, a few areas of loge boxes — similar to box seats at a baseball game — will be created with private refrigerators.

“Whatever you’re interested in, we want to make sure you’ve got good options and have the experience that you want to have,” Linville said.

There’s also a dollars-and-cents angle to the improvements. While the new amenities will cater to fans in the nosebleed section and the high-dollar suites alike, they will also help Oklahoma City’s new franchise compete with the bigger markets in the league.

The arena lease calls for the team to receive at least 40 percent of revenues from concessions and at least 25 percent from suites and other premium seating areas.

“In order for a team to be successful, they have to be able to generate the revenue at a building. Otherwise, it won’t work,” Linville said. “So a lot of these changes give the team options to build their business.”

Dan Mahoney, a spokesman for the Oklahoma City franchise, said there were ongoing discussions between the team and Ford Center officials about any changes that could be made for this season but no decisions had been made.

When the renovation is done, the team will have a new locker room linked to a warmup court by a private staircase. Fans on the concourses will be able to look in on the warmup court, unless a curtain is drawn.

The renovation plans call for the arena to be expanded southward toward Interstate 40, close enough that Linville joked that fans would be able to high-five passing motorists. The elevated highway is scheduled to be knocked down in 2012, when a new interstate will open a few miles farther south, and replaced by a ground-level parkway.

That expansion will force the Ford Center to close for a month or two while the loading dock is covered and unable to be used, Linville said.

“There’s no way to load in a concert without a loading dock,” Linville said.

In the end, Linville said the arena could end up losing a few hundred seats in order to create more seating options and fancier amenities.

“We’re taking it from a nice car to a luxury car,” Linville said.